MP slams move to scrap watchdog

The pain of soaring fuel bills will be compounded for thousands of hard-pressed households by a "spectacularly" bad decision to scrap a power firm watchdog, MPs have warned.

Energywatch's role championing the rights of gas and electricity users will be absorbed into a new consumer super-regulator on October 1, which ministers say will better protect the public.

Opponents claim the new body, named Customer Focus, would not have the trained specialist staff needed to cope with the growing level of complaints sparked by spiralling bills.

The £15 million a year super-champion, which also includes Postwatch and the National Consumer Council (NCC), will have a unit dedicated to helping those most vulnerable to disconnection. But other customers will be expected to take up concerns with suppliers themselves, who face tougher complaint regulations - backed by a new ombudsman to adjudicate in disputes.

Tory MP Peter Luff, who chairs the Commons business committee which oversees energy policy, said the NCC "have not got the staff in place with energy expertise. There's a huge looming hole."

He went on: "It could be that complaints do not get dealt with quickly enough - the companies get away with mistakes. Consumers will pay a heavy price.

"It just underlines the folly of getting rid of Energywatch before there is a fully competitive market. I have never supported this move but to abolish Energywatch at this time of rapidly-rising energy prices is a spectacularly bad idea."

It was impossible to prevent the merger now, he said, but pledged to keep a very close eye on developments and to grill the new body's bosses in Parliament.

Fellow committee member, Labour's Michael Clapham, told the BBC: "We require somebody in that market who is robust and who is going to take aggressive action to ensure that the interests of the consumer are looked after and by removing Energywatch we are not going to do that."

Consumer affairs minister Gareth Thomas insisted that the current economic environment made a single body, with stronger investigatory powers, even more desirable. "It means a joined up and co-ordinated approach to tackling problems, rather than the old fragmented system. These difficult economic times make Consumer Focus even more important. I'm sure it will campaign hard for better deals for consumers and do all it can to help people through this period of uncertainty."